Quality Assurance

How We Provide Quality

West Midland Grinding’s customer base is large and varied, from small, local engineering companies with occasional centreless grinding requirements to large, Fortune 500 listed multinationals presenting rolling twelve month schedules. All want the same end result from a quality assurance perspective and it is our business to achieve this result – first time, every time.

Certified to ISO 9001:2008 and it’s predecessors since 1994, West Midland Grinding’s quality systems have been developed and fine tuned over a period of more than 26 years. Various techniques and procedures are used in addition to the standard requirements of ISO 9001:2008 including: Advanced quality planning, statistical process control, Gauge R & R, machine capability studies… In short – TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT.

What this means is that you, the customer, can trust West Midland Grinding with your goods to be centreless ground as QUALITY IS ASSURED.

SPC data, FMEA’s, control plans, first article inspection reports, PPAP’s and more can all be supplied as required. We welcome customer audits by arrangement and certificates of conformity are free of charge.

Please contact us now to discuss your requirements.

West Midland Grinding ISO 9001 2008 Certificate

All shop floor employees are trained and to comply with our comprehensive quality systems as well our detailed health and safety procedures. We have designated inspection personnel backed up by a designated inspection office which is kitted out with slip gauges calibrated to national standards, Sigma comparators, Mitutoyo digital micrometers, Mitutoyo and Taylor Hobson surface roughness measurement equipment, and roundness measuring equipment.

Centreless Grinding Inspection Facility
Centreless Grinding Inspection Facility

The core approach of our quality system is dual approval of each stage leading to centreless grinding production, including contract review, first-off pass-off and patrol checking for each and every batch, by approved employees. detailed records for each batch are retained and stored indefinitely. A 2014 report from our ISO 9001:2008 accrediting body stated:

“Records of production and the inspection of work, staff training and competence and measuring equipment were seen to be meticulously and easily retrieved to demonstrate conformity, providing a high level of confidence in the company.”

“With no nonconformities identified, continued validation to ISO 9001:2008 is confirmed.”

Our ISO 9001:2008 scope of approval is “sub contract centreless grinding and sub contract surface grinding”. And although we have complete confidence in our systems and trained shop floor employees, both centreless grinders and inspectors, management are always looking for ways to further improve.

A large stock of centreless grinding wheels (abrasive wheels and control wheels) and centreless tooling is stored on site and sourced from vetted and approved suppliers. Our many centreless grinding machines are maintained within a schedule to ensure capability to the exacting tolerances normally demanded.